Business and Workplace Climate Action
Our places of work are the foundation of business as usual, and they represent massive potential for change.
Many of us spend the majority of our waking hours at work. The organisations that maintain our troubled human systems are made up of people, and those people can help transform those systems.
From questions of premises, energy suppliers and commuting, to products, procurement, supply chains, distribution, lobbying and advertising, investments and much more, working people together can push their organisations to take bold steps toward sustainable transition.
Climate-focused initiatives in workplaces can:
- reduce workplaces’ contributions to emissions and biodiversity loss
- help organisations become more aware of the risks and opportunities involved in transition
- show politicians and people everywhere that organisations want climate action
- persuade employers to use their great power and expertise to ask the government for new laws that allow sustainable business to happen. (This last point is important, see sustainable playing fields below.)
A lot of the time, people start businesses not just to make money, but to create products that help others. CMP is actively reaching out to the many employees and business owners who are realising that climate action must become part of their plan to create value. If you’d like us to know about your own workplace initiative, get connected with others who are working to set up their own initiatives, or be kept informed of work in this area please email connect@climatemajorityproject.com
More on Sustainable playing fields
Shifting the conversation within business to include the possibility of changing laws is an important approach for the Climate Majority Project. In business culture it’s common to insist that with enough innovation and hard work, clean business practices can outcompete polluting ones. In reality, the laws that all businesses must obey help to determine whether any one business can operate sustainably. Business, government and citizens must help to create a new environment in which business can happen sustainably.
In the coming year we’ll be working to amplify conversation about this “sustainable playing field” and helping to build alliances between businesses, governments, and citizens’ groups to further coordinate action to create it.